VicRoads Ballarat Relocation

Mr HOWARD (Ballarat East)— In the first term of the Bracks government Labor identified the opportunity to relocate the State Revenue Office to Ballarat. Labor acted immediately and the new site at Mount Helen opened within two and a half years of its coming to office. By contrast, this government has done nothing for Ballarat in its three-plus years in office. On jobs, not only has it sacked nearly 500 government employees in the Ballarat area but it has sat on its hands while hundreds of more jobs have gone. It has presented no jobs plan, and last week the Premier came to Ballarat and announced:

… if the coalition is re-elected — we’ll be looking at doing expressions of interest for the development of this site —

meaning the Civic Hall site —

to provide accommodation —

for the VicRoads office. No costings were provided, nor was there a time line for completion. This can only be described as a cynical stunt.

If this government were serious about providing jobs in Ballarat, it would have acted before now. This government has no credibility on jobs provision, and it has no credibility in working with government staff involved to move VicRoads. This is why it is not acting now and is instead offering this up as a half-baked plan as a desperate re-election ploy. This lacklustre Napthine government does not deserve to be re-elected. The people of Ballarat deserve better.